Iraq is planning to invite investors to manage several government-controlled hotels in the capital Baghdad as part of a post-war drive to attract capital and stimulate the tourism sector, an official was quoted on Monday as saying.

The Iraqi Tourism Authority is in the process of preparing feasibility studies for the hotels to be offered to investors, the Authority’s Chairman Dhafir Mahdi said in a statement published by the Iraqi Aliqitsad News network.

Mahdi said Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani has approved the project.

“Most of the hotels in Baghdad are not profitable…this has prompted the decision to offer their management to serious global companies,” Mahdi said.

He revealed that the Authority would soon sign a contract with a foreign firm to “develop and manage Babylon Hotel” in the capital.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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